Everyday Life with a Dragon Slayer
by Maximillian Havisham
Summary: Earthland has always been a land of magic and wonder, but there are some things that even give Wizards pause. After a routine S-Class Job, Team Natsu come across a rather odd girl...with a very peculiar appearance. The craziness that unfolds may even prove too much for Fairy Tail's resident Fire Dragon Slayer. Harem (As if it wasn't obvious)
1. Prologue: The Girl in the Cell

The world of Earthland is filled with numerous creatures: Wyverns, Vulcans, Goblins, Hane-Sakura, Giants, Demons, the list goes on. All around the land animals and creatures of various origin and appearance roam this world of magic and wonder. Some of these beasts are friendly, while others cite humans as their favorite meals.

However, for each number of species that have been discovered by man, there just as many creatures who have yet to be found; or in this case remembered by the world.

* * *

"Find one yet?"

"Nope. All of these jobs look lame."

Natsu Dragneel and his trusty companion Happy meticulously looked over the job request board at the Fairy Tail guild hall. It was early morning, and aside from their team and barmaid Mirajane Strauss, they were the only ones in the guild.

Natsu and Happy never arrived this early, but after Lucy's insistence that the best jobs were usually gone by the morning they decided to change their routine.

"Hurry up, Natsu." Lucy called from the table. "If you take too long everyone will get here and we won't get anything."

"I'm trying but I can't find anything good." Natsu and Happy perused over the job board. The team had a rotation of who would pick jobs and this week it was their turn.

"You mean you can't find anything that lets you destroy something." Gray snarked.

"Shut up, ice queen."

"What did you say, pyro?!"

"You heard me!"

"Enough!" Erza's shout silenced both Gray and Natsu. "It is too early for your incessant bickering. Natsu, if you can't find a job here then just go to the second floor."

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that! Happy, go check would ya?"

"Aye, sir!" the exceed summoned his wings and flew to the second floor. Just then Wendy and Carla walked in.

"Good morning, you two." Mirajane greeted.

"Good morning." the pair returned.

"I'm sorry we're late." Wendy bowed in apology to Lucy and the others.

"We would have been here sooner, but she simply refused to wake up." Carla commented. "I swear the child sleeps like a log when she wants to."

"Carla!"

Lucy giggled. "It's ok, Wendy. You don't have to be embarrassed."

Erza nodded. "Yes. Everyone sleeps in from time to time. Nothing to be ashamed of."

Gray pointed to Natsu with his thumb. "We haven't picked a job yet anyway." He said. "So you don't have to worry so much."

Wendy and Carla sat at the table.

"It's Natsu's turn to pick?" The young dragon slayer asked.

"Yeah, and he's taking forever." Lucy complained.

"It's not his fault." Erza defended. "High-paying jobs have been scarce lately. Even S-Class quests only take at most a full day to complete, with the pay being only what one would receive from a high-paying A-Rank job."

"Not much has been going on since the council reformed." Gray said with a sigh. "They pretty much handle a lot of the stuff we wizards used to."

"I found one!"

Happy swooped down from the second floor to Natsu.

"Really?! Awesome! What's it say?!"

Happy showed the job posting to the dragon slayer, it called for the capture of a group of slave traders near the border of Bosco. The job was ranked S-Class – which meant they needed Erza to accompany them – but with a payout of 10,000,000 Jewel they weren't worried about her refusing.

After showing the job to Mirajane Team Natsu was off.

* * *

"How far are we, Erza?" Gray inquired.

"According to the map we should be coming upon Hydrangea within the hour."

One train to Balsam Village and one carriage ride later, Team Natsu were on a hidden forest path to the secluded village of Hydrangea. Located there was an outpost belonging to the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Division. That is where they would receive the details of their job.

While his friends walked with their usual energy, Natsu faltered behind. He was still shaking off the lingering motion sickness from two back to back vehicle rides.

"Do you want me to cast Troia?" asked a concerned Wendy.

The pinkette waved her off with a smile. "Nah. It probably wouldn't work anyway. I'll be fine in a minute."

Lucy moved a branch out of her way on the path. "I didn't know there were villages this deep in the forest."

"Neither did I." Erza said. "Though this type of area does make an ideal hiding spot for the kind of criminals we're looking for."

"Slave traders. How despicable." Carla sneered.

"Aye. Those kind of people are the worst." Happy agreed.

"As abhorrent as it is, slave labor is a perfectly legal practice within Bosco. There is nothing we can do about **that** country's politics. But we are not in Bosco now, and as such I agree that their actions are wholly unforgivable."

It was surprising how level-headed Erza was being. She knew full well what it was like to be put into slavery. No one would have blamed her if she was just the tiniest bit angry; but she wasn't. She was as calm as she ever was.

"I can see something in the distance."

Gray pointed through the tree line. There appeared to be a few houses made of stone and wood over the horizon.

"That must be the village." Lucy surmised.

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Natsu shouted, completely revitalized. "Let's get this job started! Come on, Happy!"

"Aye sir!"

The two raced to the village.

"Wait you two!" Lucy called.

"Too late. They're long gone." Carla said.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Those idiots."

Erza sighed. "Let's catch them before they frighten the locals." When the group caught up to their companions, Erza gave Natsu a swift punch to the back of his head.

"What's the big idea, Erza?!"

"That's for running off on your own again. How many times must we go over this?"

Happy snickered at his friend but soon found himself on the receiving end of a smack from Carla as well.

"You're not off the hook either, tomcat." She scolded.

"Ow." Happy whined.

"Excuse me." Lucy called to a young woman walking through the village with a basket in hand. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we're looking for the Council outpost station. Do you know where we can find it?"

"Of course. It's that way." The woman pointed towards a small shack near the edge of the village. "There's a sign out front so you can't miss it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's not often we get wizards coming through here. Good luck on your mission." With that the young woman went about her way.

"Come along. We're losing daylight." Erza said. She led the way to the the outpost building. The sign in front read: "Magic Council Law Enforcement Outpost. Officer on duty: Jacobi Hennigway."

"Place is way smaller up close." Gray said.

"Let's go in." Natsu placed his foot on the first step leading to the door before being suddenly pulled back by Erza.

"Not so fast, Natsu. We need to approach with decorum. This is Council property after all." She placed the dragon slayer behind her and walked up the stairs. She delicately knocked on the dry wooden door. "Hello?"

"Come on in. Door's open." A raspy voice answered from the other side.

Team Natsu entered the shack. It reeked of cigar smoke and alcohol. Before them was a desk with a mountain of papers stacked on top. Across from that was a wooden coat stand with the jackets on the floor around it. In the back of the room was a table along with a small kitchen area that had dishes piling up in the sink.

"This place is a mess." Carla said. She closed her nostrils with her paw to block out the offending smells.

"Yeah. It's worse than Natsu's." Lucy commented.

"That it is." Erza nodded. "I didn't think such a thing was possible."

"Hey!" Natsu and Happy shouted in offense.

Walking out from a doorway to the left was a man with dark green hair. Short stubble gave his face a rugged look as the smoke rose from the cigarette in his mouth. The group could see the set in food stains on his tank top as well as the holes in his jeans as he walked to kitchen. He poured some coffee into a mug.

"Be right witcha. Sit wherever ya like." He placed the coffee pot back on the table and walked back into the room, all without looking at his guests. "Help yaselves to some coffee. Mugs in the cabinet."

"I think we'll pass." Lucy politely declined.

The wizards searched the mess for somewhere to sit. After about a minute or so they discovered a couch buried under a pile of log books and charts. Lucy, Wendy, Happy, and Carla sat there while Natsu, Erza, and Gray chose to sit at the kitchen table.

"I didn't think a council officer would be so messy." Wendy whispered.

"Aye." Happy nodded.

"Let this be a lesson, Wendy." Carla said. "This could very well be you if you aren't careful." Wendy blushed in embarrassment. Sure she had a tendency to leave the odd mess here and there, but she wasn't this bad…at least she didn't think she was.

"I doubt anyone gets this messy." Lucy said. "...Well maybe Natsu."

The dragon slayer's ears perked up.

After a few more minutes of waiting the man returned. He had changed his dirty shirt to a black one and wore a jacket the council's insignia over it. His ripped jeans still remained, but now he also sported a brown cowboy hat. He ashed his cigarette in the tray on the table before sitting down in front of Erza. Without warning he grabbed her hand.

"So what can I do for a fine lady like yourself this morning?" his half-lidded eyes and sly smile immediately rubbed the redhead - as well as her friends - the wrong way. Her natural instinct told her to knock him unconscious where he sat, but he was still a council member. She would have to hold back for now.

"It's late afternoon." Lucy corrected.

The man looked over to her and Wendy. "My apologies I didn't see you two over there. I promised my Mama raised a gentleman." He tipped his hat to Lucy and Wendy with the same smile he showed Erza.

"It's not a problem." Lucy waved off. _Great. He's one of those guys._

"What about us?" Natsu interjected.

The man looked to the dragon slayer and Gray. After about a second or two his attention returned to Erza without saying a word.

"Hey, you jerk!" Natsu shouted.

"Don't ignore us!" Gray yelled.

"So what did you say you needed, ma'am?"

Erza squeezed his hand just enough that he could feel his bone's crack.

"Oh!" he quickly snatched his hand away and rubbed it. "That's quite a grip ya got there."

"So I've been told." The redhead smiled sweetly. "We've come here about the job you requested."

"A course!" the man realized. He smacked his forehead with his palm. "I've been a dang fool!" the man rushed over to the desk and began scavenging through the papers. Soon enough he found the one he was looking for. "Let's see here. Fairy Tail wizards: Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Gray Fullbuster, Carla, and Happy. Right?"

"That's correct." The redhead nodded.

"Wait…Erza Scarlet..." the man's eyes widened when he read the name again. "You're 'Titania' Erza?!"

Erza nodded again. "I am."

"I knew you looked familiar! Like a scarlet angel descended from tha heavens." He grabbed Erza by the hand once more, this time kneeling down in front of her. "Your pictures don't do you justice. Name's Jacobi Hennigway, but y'all can call me Jake."

Gray quickly broke their contact. "Back off, buddy."

"My apologies. I didn't know she was spoken for. Far be it from me to break up a man and his lady."

"It's not like that." Erza quickly stated.

"Oh it's not? Then perhaps you and I could get a bite some time. I know this great little spot-"

Lucy cleared her throat.

"Don't worry, darling, there's more than enough room for you as well. Council pays pretty well. We can even take the little lady if you-"

"That's not what I meant!"

"We'd like to start the job now if possible." Erza said. Her patience was nearing it's end.

"Right. Right. Let's get down ta business. Just move this stuff offa here real quick." Jake pushed away the clutter on the table, revealing a detailed layout with maps, pictures, and other information about the job. The Fairy Tail wizards all gathered around the table.

"As the job postin no doubt told ya, we're dealing with some slave traders, but these guys ain't rank amateurs. They call themselves 'Shadow Gift'. Fancy themselves entrepreneurs. Council's been trying to take them down for months, but they know this area like the back of their hand so they always managed to get away. They're some slippery bastards."

"Why can't you just arrest them once they cross the border?" Lucy asked.

"Slavery's legal in Bosco." Jake said. "And since it's out of the Fiore branch's jurisdiction we can't follow them either. Too much bureaucratic red tape."

"So what do you propose we do?" Erza asked.

"Well it took some time, but I finally found their hideout." Jake pointed to a big red dot on the map a little ways northeast of Hydrangea. "It's a couple hours hike from the village. I say we hit'em when they least expect it and save the hostages before they have a chance to transport them."

Natsu slammed a fire fist into his palm. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"When do we leave?" Gray asked.

"Within the hour. From what I gathered they won't be moving their cargo until nightfall. That should give us enough time to find a spot to hide and take'em by surprise."

"Agreed." Erza nodded. "We'll start getting ready."

* * *

"All this waiting is so boring!" Natsu groaned.

"Will you be quiet?!" Lucy hissed. "We're supposed to be waiting for a surprise attack. If you keep making noise they'll find us!"

"You're just as loud." Happy deapanned.

"Shut it, cat."

"He's right! All this waiting sucks!" Jake grumbled. He was currently lying on his back, flipping through the latest issue of Sorcerer Weekly. The centerfold was Mirajane.

"This stakeout was your idea!" Carla reminded the council officer. "The least you could do is pay attention!"

"I guess you're right." He closed the magazine then looked over to Lucy. "You got a boyfriend?"

The blonde blushed.

"That is not what I meant by 'paying attention'!" Carla shouted.

"T-that's none of your business." Lucy answered nervously.

"So a girlfriend then." Jake surmised. "Hey, I don't judge. Love is love." he shrugged.

"I don't have a girlfriend either!"

"So you're single?"

"Yeah. She's been single forever." Happy snickered. Lucy silenced him with a Lucy kick into a nearby tree.

Jake rolled over to Wendy. "What about you, little darlin? Got yourself a boyfriend?"

Wendy blushed just as Lucy had, luckily for her Carla interjected.

"Of course not! Wendy is much too young to be dating some slovenly boy!"

"Good mentality to have." Jake replied. "Take from me, little lady. Boys are nothin' but trouble. You're best stayin away from em."

 _Is that supposed to be advice?_ Lucy thought confused.

"I'd refer you to my friend kettle, but I feel like you've already met." Carla said to the council officer.

Wendy looked to Natsu. He yawned loudly, not really paying attention to what was going on around him. When their eyes met she blushed and looked away, confusing him. Some boys were the good kind of trouble.

The lair of Shadow Gift was much more fortified than the group anticipated. Posted all over the compound were guards armed with some sort of magical weapon.

"They really don't want anyone snooping around." Gray noted.

"Clearly." Erza said. "Are there any wizards among their number?"

"Not from our reports." Jake answered. "But they have a whole stockpile of weapons to ward off anyone who comes their way."

"Well they haven't met us yet." Natsu grinned.

"What do we do?" Wendy asked. "If they see us coming there's no telling what they'll do to the people inside."

"We need some way to get close without them spotting us." Gray said. "If we wait too long they'll start moving out and we'll lose them in the woods."

"I think I have an idea." Lucy pulled out Virgo's key and pressed it against her shoulder. When she turned it her body started to glow gold. When the light faded she was in a maid's outfit. Jake's mouth hung open at the sight, Lucy ignored him. "I can make us a path into the fortress."

"Good thinking, Lucy." Erza praised. "Do it."

"Ok." Lucy used Virgo's Star Dress power to create a hole in the ground. When she jumped in, the others followed. They bypassed the guards outside and were soon sitting under the hideout. "I think we're here."

"Take us up." Erza said. "We'll rescue the captives then deal with the others."

"Right." When Lucy created a hole above them and everyone poked out their heads to see where they were. To their surprise they were in the hideout, but not near the holding cells. Instead they were right in the middle of the hideout's main lounging area. Once more they were surrounded on all sides by the members of Shadow Gift. Even the guards outside came rushing in.

"This doesn't look like the holding cells." Gray said facetiously.

"Nice going, Lucy." Natsu said flatly.

"Aye." Happy agreed.

"You three try digging underground and see how good **your** sense of direction is!"

"Wait a minute!" One of the thieves pointed at Jake. "Isn't that guy that drunken, womanizing, council officer?!"

"Howdy, fellas." Jake greeted with a tip of his hat. "You wouldn't happen to be holding about fifty or so missing girls around here would ya? Also I'm not drunk right now...just tipsy."

"Hennigway." A booming voice separated the group of slave traders down the middle. A large man with an even larger gut and balding black hair approached the intruders with a evil smirk on his face. "Thought I told you last time that we don't like council officers snooping around here."

"Hey there, Dunlap." Jake waved with a smile. "Was wonderin where you were. You know me, just can't help saying hi to old friends. We had loads a fun last time."

"Normally I'd amuse myself by beating the snot out of you, but you caught me in a good mood today. The boys and I just found ourselves the score of a lifetime."

"Lucky you."

"Who is that?" Happy whispered to Carla.

"If one had to guess I'd say he's the leader of these degenerates." the tabby answered.

"I'm feeling generous today, Henningway, so hows about I cut you a deal?" Dunlap said. "Leave the girls behind and I'll let you go with the use of your legs this time." He focused his gaze on squarely on Wendy, sending an eerie chill down the young girl's spine.

"That's mighty generous of ya, Dunlap, but I'm afraid I can't do that. Girls ain't my property to just give away, but I do got a counteroffer for ya. How about you let the girls you got locked up here go and you won't spend the rest of your life in cell?"

Dunlap threw back his head and laughed. "That's what I like about you, Hennigway. You never stop making me laugh."

"My momma did always tell me that comedy was a good icebreaker."

"She did? Well you can tell her how well that worked when I send you back to her in a box. Get'em boys, but don't hurt the women. They'll fetch a good price."

The slave traders started to advance on the group.

Wendy fretted. "I don't wanna be a slave."

"There's only one thing to do." Gray started.

"Natsu, now!" Erza shouted.

The dragon slayer focused his energy and his flames exploded outward knocking back all of the slave traders as well as freeing him and his friends from the hole.

"Damn it!" Dunlap yelled. "He brought wizards with him!"

"Not just any wizards, ya big hog!" Jake boasted. "I brought the best of tha best: Fairy Tail wizards!"

"Fairy Tail?!" the slaver traders all shouted in alarm.

"Find the hostages." Erza ordered Lucy. "We'll take care of this lot."

"Ok." Lucy nodded. She took off with Wendy, Carla, and Happy in tow.

"Stop them!" Dunlap ordered his men. "Don't let them free the cargo!"

The bandits ran after Lucy's group but were quickly blocked by a wall of ice courtesy of Gray.

"You guys aren't going anywhere." He said.

"You certainly aren't." Erza stepped forward, requipping into her Wingblade Armor. "You are about to experience first-hand what it feels like to be helpless. How it feels to have your freedom ripped away from you. Be sure to remember the lesson thoroughly."

Natsu and Gray flanked her the former igniting his fists while the latter showed his devil slayer tattoo. Dunlap and his men staggered back, a few tripping and falling over the tables in the dining hall. Jake watched from behind the angry Fairy Tail wizards with a smile.

"Should have taken the deal, Dunlap." he said. "You boys are in for it now."

* * *

The last of the freed prisoners filed out of the hideout with a grateful smile on their face. When Jake finished talking to them he returned to the Fairy Tail wizards.

"There all done." He said.

"What did you do?" Lucy accused. "Please tell me you didn't hit on any of them."

"A course not…well maybe a couple, but also got their information so we can send them back where they belong. Thanks to y'all these girls will be able to return home and resume their normal lives in time for supper."

"We're glad we could help." Wendy smiled.

"Yeah. All in a day's work." Lucy said proudly.

"Aye." Happy chirped.

"It feels good to have done some good in the world." Carla beamed.

"Yes it does." Erza nodded. "That is one more group of criminals off the streets. Isn't that right?" She stepped on the handcuffed Dunlap's back. He and the rest of his guild were all tied up awaiting for the council to get them. They also had various bruises, bumps, cuts, and burns on their bodies from the battle.

"Yes!" the man cried. "I promise we won't do it again!"

"Yeah! We won't!" the other slave traders echoed.

"Are we ready to go?" Gray asked.

"Yeah we should...wait, where's Natsu?" Lucy asked.

The group looked around for the missing dragon slayer. None remembered seeing him exit the fortress along with them.

"Did he get lost?" Wendy asked.

Gray facepalmed. "Only that idiot would get lost when there is only one exit. He probably locked himself inside one of the cells."

"We must find him." Erza ordered.

* * *

Natsu walked through the dark, damp hallways of Shadow Gift's fortress. After Lucy and the others freed the prisoners, Natsu heard a call for help. It was so faint that even his own enhanced ears were barely able to catch it. Without telling his friends he followed the noise, arriving at a door at the end of the dank cell hall. Unlike the other doors in the hall, this one was completely blocked off by a number of chains and locks. Natsu was struck curious by the scratches on the wood of the door.

 _Just what was so bad that even the slave traders blocked it off?_ He thought. _Maybe it's some really strong wizard or something._

"Hello?" A sweet voice called from the other side of the door. "Is someone out there? Hello?"

"Yeah. I'm here." Natsu answered somewhat automatically. Whoever this girl was she sounded frightened. "Are you ok?"

"Yes I'm fine." The girl answered. "I heard a lot of yelling and loud noises earlier. What happened?"

"My friends and I beat up the bad guys and freed the other girls. I guess they forgot about you all the way back here."

"Really?!" the girl's voice sounded much more joyful now. "That's great! I was hoping someone would come save us! If you don't mind could you tell me your name?"

"Name's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"Natsu." the girl repeated, burning the name into her memory. "Thank you, Natsu. My name is Miia by the way."

"Nice to meetcha, Miia. Just hang on and I'll bust you out. Stand back from the door."

"Ok."

Natsu could hear Miia moving away from the door, but she didn't sound like she was walking. In fact it sounded like...slithering. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and pulled back his fist. "You away from the door?"

"Yes, but what are you going to do? There's a lot of chains blocking the door. Do you have a key?"

Natsu grinned confidently. "I don't need no stinkin key. I'm a wizard!"

"Really? Wow." Miia's tone brightened again. "I've never met a real wizard before."

"Here goes!" Natsu's fist ignited.

 ** _FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST_**

He broke through the chains with ease and the door exploded off its hinges. "There you are." he smiled. "You're free now."

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Now let's go meet with the-"

Miia tackled Natsu to the floor.

"Ow..." Natsu groaned. "You're heavier than I thought."

Miia sat up and crossed her arms in displeasure. "How rude. I'll have you know that I'm one of the lightest girls in my tribe." she pouted.

"You're tribe?" Natsu questioned. "What do you..." he trailed off when he looked over Miia's body. His eyes went wide. "Whoa."

Just then Erza of the others came running into the hall. "Natsu!" the redhead called. "What happened?! We heard an explosion and-"

The group halted as soon as they reached Natsu. He was still lying on the ground, but it wasn't him they were looking at. Rather the girl on top of him. Miia was a beautiful girl with long red hair a couple of shades lighter than Erza's, bright amber eyes, and a slim yet well-endowed upper body – which was barely covered by an ornate bikini top. Her ears were red and pointed outward, and she also had what appeared to be scales on the sides of her face.

Even with all of that, the sight that truly gave all of the Fairy Tail wizard's pause was Miia's long snake tail.

* * *

 **New Crossover! I've been waiting to post this one for a while but I wanted to wait until the reviews on the server were fixed. I've been really into the Monster Musume series as of late so I thought it would be nice to do a crossover with Fairy Tail (honestly because these crossovers seem to be doing well for me and I figured a magical world like Earthland would be perfect to fit the MonMusu girls in). Also this is the first crossover of these two series on this site I believe! Call me a forward thinker, but I'm surprised no one had done this sooner.**

 **Since I have a lot on my plate I won't be updating this super frequently, but I'll get into it when the inspiration strikes me every now and again.**

 **As always leave a comment/review letting me know what you think. Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. The Lady in Black

Natsu and Happy stepped into their home, the former with a noticeable slump in his shoulders.

"She wasn't kidding. They really did renovate." Happy noted. Just yesterday their abode on the edge of Magnolia was a messy, but cozy little space. Now it was almost three times bigger than before and had many amenities that weren't there before – most notably a full sized kitchen, as well as an actual bathroom and bedrooms.

Happy explored their new home. Their old raggedy couch had been replaced by two new ones made of what appeared to be a very expensive leather situated inside a large living area, there was a movie lacrima screen against the wall across from the kitchen, and their brand new fridge was just as big as the one in the guild hall.

Natsu crossed his arms in a huff. "I don't like it." he grunted. He hated change – even if he couldn't take his eyes off of the brand new fridge.

"E-excuse me."

Miia nervously slithered in through the front door and tentatively looked around her new surroundings. She'd never been in a human's house before, much less one that belonged to a male. Because of her races' culture of "wedding" human men Miia had seen plenty of them growing up; but she never once interacted with one before her capture.

She was always curious of human society, and studied whatever books she could on it as she grew older. Unfortunately her curiosity proved to be her undoing, and she ended up in the clutches of Shadow Steed. However, just as she thought of giving up she was saved…by Natsu. She looked over to the dragon slayer. He stood at the top of the small stair case leading down to the living area with his hands on his hips in displeasure. He was muttering to himself again about how much he hated the changes to home.

His back was so broad and hard. Miia felt like her finger would break if she touched it. When she gained control of her thoughts her cheeks started to heat up.

"I-I'll go take a shower!" she blurted out.

"Hm?" Natsu looked over his shoulder to her. "Oh yeah. Cool. We have been gone a while. Go ahead."

"T-thank you." Miia bowed her head and quickly moved down the hall. Leaving Natsu alone. As the dragon slayer continued surveying his brand new home Happy flew out of the hall in a panic.

"Natsu~!" The exceed frantically crashed into his friend's chest, knocking them both onto the couch. "I can't find it!"

"Whoa slow down, buddy. Can't find what? What happened?"

"Our memory wall! It's gone!"

"What?!" Natsu shot up from the couch, inadvertently launching Happy to the floor. "Where did it go?!"

"I don't know! I thought it would be in our new room, but it wasn't! I looked all over but I still can't find it anywhere!"

"Those bastards!" Natsu snarled. "They probably threw the stuff away when they changed the house around. Hurry, Happy! We have to find it!"

"Aye sir!" Happy saluted and the pair split up and started the search anew. Happy checked outside while Natsu searched inside.

He looked through each room in the hallway until he reached the final door on the left. In a rush he opened it without knocking, and was hit with a plume of steam. When the smoke cleared he found himself face to face with a naked Miia.

The two stared at each other for a while, both of them shocked speechless. Miia was so embarrassed she felt that her heart would stop. Through no real fault of his own, Natsu's eyes curiously trailed down her body - if only to see just where she stopped being a girl and started being a snake.

Her long red tresses were neatly wrapped under the cloth of a towel, the steam having already moistened her shapely upper body and long tail to prepare her for the bath's warm waters. Nature taking its course, Natsu's eyes eventually fell on Miia's chest.

She had yet to submerge herself in the bath, so her breasts were on display for him to see. He had already known of their above average size from the way they sat in her bikini top, but it was a completely different experience seeing them bare like this.

They were much fuller than he expected. Similar to Lucy's, or maybe they were a tad bigger. Natsu didn't really know for sure. Drops of water from Miia's still wet hair rolled down her slender neck to her chest, dropping from the end of her light pink nipples. As soon as the drop hit the ground Natsu came to his senses.

"Sorry! I-"the last thing he heard was Miia's shrill, frightened scream. The last thing he saw was her tail coming towards him.

* * *

The entirety of the Fairy Tail guild stood in stunned silence. Their collective jaws on the floor, every wizard's eyes were focused on the shy, strawberry headed, snake-girl before them. Miia was at the stop of the stair with the rest of Team Natsu and was equally shocked as they were. Since she didn't exactly remember where her home village was, she had little choice but to except Erza's offer and come with them.

Bringing her from Shadow Gift's lair proved to be a rather daunting task. Since she was much too big to ride in the train car, she had to settle with riding in the cargo car with the oversized luggage. After that indignity she was met with the curious - and frightened - stares from the Magnolia populace on her way through town to the guild.

"They haven't said anything since we've arrived." Miia anxiously whispered to Lucy.

"Can't say I blame them." The blonde joked. She wasn't scared of Miia, but she could see how the others were. "But it's ok. They're all really nice people once you get to know them."

"Alright that's enough!" Erza's authoritative shout snapped the guild out of their trance. "Don't you all know it's rude to stare at a lady? Where are your manners?"

"We've never seen a 'lady' like that before." Max spoke up.

"Yeah." Warren added. "Where did you guys find this…snake-girl anyway?"

"She was being held captive by slave traders we apprehended on our most recent job." Erza answered with a glare. "And her name is not 'snake-girl', it's Miia. Got it?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" the two shouted in unison.

"Thank you, Ms. Erza." Miia smiled meekly.

"No trouble, and you don't have to be so formal. You may call me Erza." The redhead smiled. Miia returned her smile with a short - yet unsure - nod.

"Where's the master?" Gray asked.

"He should be in his office right about now." Mirajane pointed to the top of the stairs. "He returned not long before you all." As expected the barmaid was the only member of the guild not taken aback by Miia's appearance.

"I'll go report on our mission's success. As well as our new...guest." Erza said. "You all can relax. You too as well, Miia. Make yourself comfortable."

"O-ok." The snake-girl nodded.

Erza went on her way, as did the rest of Team Natsu. Not knowing what else to do, Miia followed after them to a table near the bar.

"You need a chair or something?" Natsu asked.

"Would that be asking too much?"

"Nah. Hold tight." Natsu grabbed a nearby chair from the next table over and set it at the end of the table his group was sitting at. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Miia sat down…but her tail was still laid out on the floor. A passing Gajeel tripped over it, landing flat on his face on the hard wooden floor with a resounding smack.

"Dammit!" the irritable dragon slayer yelled. He rose up, pain tears in the corners of his eyes. "Hey, watch where you put that thing!"

Miia quickly apologized and bowed her head. "I'm so sorry!"

"Calm down, Gajeel." Lucy chided. "It was an accident. You're scaring her."

"Yes. No need to make such a fuss over it." Carla added.

"Why are you treating me like the bad guy? I was the one that tripped!"

"Should have watched where you going." Gray muttered.

"What was that, ice pop?" Gajeel sniped.

"You heard me, screws for brains."

"I didn't. How about you say it a little louder?"

As he approached Gray, Gajeel noticed Natsu and Happy stifling their laughter.

"The hell are you two snickering at?!"

"Your face." Happy told, fighting in vain to back his chuckles. There was a big red circle on Gajeel's face.

"It looks like someone smacked you in the face with a frying pan." Natsu stop holding back and let loose an uproarious laugh.

"How would you like to know what that feels like?" Gajeel threatened. Natsu's laughing abruptly stopped. He stepped on top of the table and rolled up his sleeve to fight.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, you metal plated jerk!"

"Ladies first, pinky!"

Just as the two prepared to come to blows, the doors of the guild hall fiercely swung open.

"Hold it right there!"

A woman with long black hair stepped into the guild. She wore dark shades to hide her eyes, a black blazer with matching skirt, stockings, and high heels which made her above-average height stand out even more. The small group of council soldiers that entered with her all pointed their magical staves at the Fairy Tail wizards. Natsu and Gajeel instantly ceased their quarreling and faced the new threat with the rest of their guild.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked. She had her keys at the ready.

"No idea." Gray answered.

"Stay back, Miia." Natsu said.

"Ok." The snake-girl started to slither back towards the bar.

Mirajane motioned for Miia to move faster. "Hurry. You'll be safe back here."

"Hold it!" The suited woman pointed to Miia. The snake-girl froze. "Stay right where you are, Missy."

"What do you want with, Miia?!" Natsu demanded.

"What is the council even doing here?" Carla asked.

"Yeah we haven't done anything…" Wendy argued. "Have we?" She looked to the older members of her team for confirmation, but they all shrugged. They didn't know either. It was entirely possible knowing the guild's track record for wanton destruction.

Just then Erza leapt from the second floor balcony. She landed with a crash, her Heaven's Wheel donned and ready. She pointed her sword at the woman from the council - who seemed unaffected. "What is the meaning of this? State your business now. Even if you're part of the council, I will not allow an unprovoked attack on the guild-"

"Stand down. All of you."

Master Makarov descended the stairs much more calmly than the knight, placing himself between his children and the mysterious councilwoman.

"But, Master-"Erza started.

"It's alright, Erza. I called them here."

Fairy Tail reluctantly lowered guards at their master's behest, but the council soldier's weapons were still trained on them.

"Are you going to lower your weapons as well?" Makarov asked the woman. "If not then I can't guarantee what my children will do next."

The woman's eyebrows lifted above her shades. "Weapons? What weapons?" She turned around, finally noticing the position her men were in. "What are you guys doing?!" she chided frantically. "Put those things down right now! Are you trying to start a fight?!"

"How did she not know her guys were ready to attack us?" Gray questioned deadpan.

"She's completely clueless." Lucy commented.

"Sorry about that. These guys can be a little trigger happy during peace time." The woman took off her shades - revealing her almond brown eyes to the wizards - and cleared her throat "My name is Kuroko Smith, but you can all just call me Smith for short." She flashed the badge she kept in her jacket pocket. "I'm the leader of the Magic Council's 'Liminal Cultural Preservation and Protection Division'."

"The what?" Droy asked.

"What's a 'Liminal', Momma?" Asuka asked.

"Beats me, honey." Bisca shurgged. "I'm just as lost as you."

"It doesn't surprise me that you guys don't know about them." Smith said, placing her badge back into her pocket. "That just means we're good at our jobs. To put it simply, Liminals are humanoid monsters. Just like our lamia friend over there. Your name is…Miia. Right?" Smith pointed to Miia and she nodded.

"So what is it exactly that you do?" Erza inquired.

"Our job is to preserve the cultures and society of all Liminals in Ishgal. As well as protect any that we find in the country." Smith informed. "Most prefer to stay hidden, because they don't get along too well with humans, but every now and again we receive a call about lost Liminal and have to bring them in. It's a huge job, but someone's gotta do it." Smith laughed but soon stopped when no one joined her. "Anyway. Your master contacted us about Miia. So we've come to take her in."

"Take her in? What do you mean by that?"

Natsu quickly got between Miia and Smith. "She's not going anywhere with you guys."

Miia was shocked at the dragon slayer's response. "Natsu…"

"You don't have to be so edgy." Smith assured. "Miia isn't the only Liminal we've cared for. Lots of girls like her have been well taken care of by us. I think you know one of them. Her name was…Millianna if I remember right. Cat girl. I'm terrible with names sometimes."

Erza's eyes widened. "Millianna?"

"The cat girl from the tower of heaven?" Gray questioned.

"That's the one!" Smith pointed to Gray. "We found her not long after you all took down the tower. Good job on that by the way. We got her back on her feet and even sponsored her membership into Mermaid Heel."

"If that's the case then why didn't you do anything for her while she was in the tower?" Lucy questioned. "She and a bunch of other people were trapped there for years. Some even died."

Smith's wide smile slowly morphed into a regretful frown, her mood shifting along with it. "I know. Believe me I tried everything I could to try and free her and any other Liminals from that horrible place, but when you work for the council you have to play by their rules. It's the job. My hands were tied for years, but I never stopped looking for a way to save her. However, just when I thought the time had finally come, you all dismantled the Tower and rescued those in it. I was so relieved." Smith bowed her head in respect. "Thank you so much for saving her."

Lucy now felt bad for accusing Smith of just sitting idly by. "N-no. I'm sorry. I didn't realize how hard it must have been for you."

"We should be thanking you." Erza interjected. "Because of you Millianna was able to find a place she belonged. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Oh stop it you're embarrassing me." Smith's upbeat demeanor returned. "It's all in a day's work. Now, Ms. Miia, if you're ready we'll take you back to our facility in Crocus and work on getting you back to your tribe."

Smith extended her hand to the girl, but Miia slid further behind Natsu. She gripped his coat tightly between her shaking fingers.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked. He could see the fear in Miia's eyes. "You don't have to be afraid. These guys said they'll take you home. That's what you wanted right?"

Miia didn't answer and buried her face into the back of Natsu's coat. When Smith saw this, a knowing grin spread across her features.

"I think I've got a great idea."

* * *

Natsu muttered obscenities to himself as he trudged down the hall, his hand nursing the red bruise that spread across the length of his face – courtesy of a whip from Miia's tail. He was no closer to finding his belongings, but he did know that he already had to repair the large hole in the wall he had made.

"I said sorry." He groaned. He walked into the kitchen area and opened the fridge for the first time since seeing it. Normally he would be excited to see a fully stocked fridge in his house, but that was his least of his worries at the moment.

"If you're looking for ice it's in the bottom."

"Thanks." Natsu pulled open a drawer at the bottom of the fridge and saw trays of cubed ice.

"Ice bags are in the cabinet to your left."

Natsu reached for the cabinet on the right.

"Your other left."

Natsu corrected himself and opened the cabinet. Sure enough there were a set of ice bags. He filled one with a few of the cubes and placed the bag on his aching face.

"Miia hit you with her tail?"

Natsu nodded.

"I'd be more careful. Lamia's tails are strong enough to bend steel under the right circumstances."

"I'll keep that in mind….wait." Natsu finally realized something was off aboutthis conversation. Just who was talking to him this entire time? Miia was still in the bath, and that surely wasn't Happy's voice. He looked over the kitchen counter, and saw Smith sitting on the couch with a smile on her face and cup of hot coffee in her hand.

"Yo." she finally greeted.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The dragon slayer yelled.

"Ow. Are you always this loud?" Smith stuck her pinky in her ear. "I came to check and see how things were going. We did a pretty good job renovating, huh? How do you like it?"

Natsu crossed his arms and looked away. "I don't. I hate change."

Smith was upset by his answer. "Well that's kind of disappointing. We put a lot of work into this."

"How did you get in here anyway?"

Smith took a sip from her mug. "Master key. Just a precautionary measure in case anything happens during the integration process."

Natsu leaned against the kitchen counter, his face twisted in annoyance. "I still don't know why I gotta be the one to do this stupid experiment thing."

"It's like I told you at the guild. My division of the council has kept the existence of Liminals a secret for years, but recently more and more species of Liminals have started taken an interest in human society. As such we've come up with a little experiment in order to determine just how they will co-exist within humans at large."

Natsu was still unsure.

"Don't make that face. You're not the only person doing this. There are numerous host families all over the country housing all sorts of different species of Liminal. Some are even taking care of more than one."

"Well there is no way that's gonna be me." Natsu declared. "Miia is the only one staying here."

"Of course. Of course. Don't worry." Smith said with a hurried laugh. "Anyway this isn't a permanent arrangement. You only act as a host family until we feel that your guest is able to live on their own, or in your case until we can locate Ms. Miia's tribe."

"Why couldn't someone else do it?"

"Well it's no secret that our lamia friend has taken quite a liking to you since you rescued her from those slave traders. It was just easier for her to stay with you instead of us trying to find her another host family."

"Sounds like you just didn't want to do more work." Natsu countered.

"Well look at the time! I should really get going. Lots of paper work to do, you know?" Smith put the empty coffee mug in the sink and made her way to the front door. "One last thing."

"What?"

"Despite our numerous records on Liminals, there are still a few things that remain a mystery to us. Namely when it comes to…'physical' relations."

Natsu was confused. "What are you going on about?"

"Try not get too…'friendly' with Ms. Miia for the time being, ok?" Smith's mischievous grin reminded him of the same one Mirajane used when she went on one of her match-making sprees.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll come back in a few days to check on things. You kids have fun…but not too much fun. I'm counting on you, Mr. Dragneel." With that Smith exited the house.

"Wait!" Natsu ran to the doorway, watching as Smith approached the main road back to town. "At least tell me what you did with the stuff that was on my wall!"

"We put it in a box and placed it in your new room! It's the third door on the left! See ya later!" Kuroko Smith turned down the road and out of sight with one final wave. Natsu closed the door.

"Man, that woman is such a pain." When he turned around, he was startled to see Miia behind him. "Hey. You done in the bath?"

The lamia nodded, but her eyes never met Natsu's. She was staring at the ground, biting her lip as she twiddled her thumbs.

"What's up?"

"I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Sorry? For what?"

"…For hitting you with my tail." The deadly weapon in question was wagging back and forth on the ground. "You just startled me and I couldn't help it. I'm so sorry! Please don't kick me out!"

Natsu placed a calming hand on Miia's head. She looked at him, her cheeks burning red when she saw the warm smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it. I've been hit way harder by Lucy and Erza. Besides It was my fault for just barging in on you like that. Lucy told me I have a problem with knocking or something."

"So you're not mad? You're not going to kick me out? I know my appearance can be scary to humans..."

Natsu's smile remained. "I mean yeah I was little freaked out at first, but I've seen way scarier things. You may be half snake or whatever, but you're still a girl. That doesn't change anything. Until they find your family, you can stay here as long as you want. I'll never kick you out. This place is now you're home too."

Miia's heart skipped a beat.

"Natsu, I found it!"

Happy's shout broke Miia's dreamlike daze.

"Awesome! Be right there!" Natsu took off to his new room and Miia followed. Inside the rather spacious area – complete with a full size bed, a desk, Natsu's handmade weights, and a large window – they found Happy unpacking a box on the floor labeled "miscellaneous".

"Guess she was right after all." Natsu noted.

"Who?" Miia asked.

"That Smith lady. She came by earlier and told me where this stuff was." Natsu helped Happy sort through the contents in the box. "Is this everything?"

"Yep." the exceed nodded.

"Awesome. Let's put it back then."

Natsu, Miia, and Happy walked into the living room with the box. Miia watched curiously as the two placed random items against the wall: a piece of paper signed by someone named "Salamander", various other papers with pictures and jewel reward numbers, a necklace made of what appeared to be a skull and the teeth of some sort of monster, and lots of other items. There was even a maid outfit complete with its own stand, and a bunch of rocks in a sack. When they finished Natsu and Happy stepped back from the wall with smiles on their faces.

"There. Good as new right, buddy?"

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"What is all of this?" Miia moved closer to the pair, her gazed transfixed on the display they had built.

"It's our 'Memory Wall'." Happy proudly answered as he puffed out his chest.

"Memory...Wall?"

"All this stuff are souvenirs from every job we've ever been on." Natsu explained.

"Wow." Miia looked over everything carefully, but was sure not to touch any of it. "There's so much."

"Yeah we have been on lots of awesome jobs." Natsu boasted with a confident smirk. "We've probably been on more jobs than anyone in the guild."

"Aye. Nobody is better than us when it comes to picking jobs."

"Yeah." Natsu laughed. "Oh wait! I almost forgot!" Natsu reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece parchment. When he opened it up, it was revealed to be the job that he and Happy had picked just yesterday. He stuck a pin in three corners of the parchment and place it out the board. Before placing the last pin he held out his hand to Miia. "Let me borrow one of your hairclips. I want to put it on the corner of this paper."

Miia was apprehensive at first. "Why? What's so special about that paper?"

Natsu's answer was a simple one, but effective all the same because of that wide smile of his. "This is the job where we found you."

Miia's heart skipped a beat for the second time. Without hesitation she took out one of her hair clips and gave it to the dragon slayer.

"Thanks." Natsu stuck the last pin in the paper, then hung Miia's hair clip on it. He took a step back, admiring the newest addition to the wall. "Looks pretty good."

Miia's cheeks flushed red again and she smiled. "It does."

"Where did you get that robe?" Happy suddenly asked.

"Hm?" Miia looked down at the fluffy yellow robe covering her upper body. "This? It was in the bathroom. I guess they left them there on purpose."

"You don't have any clothes?" Natsu asked.

"No. I only had what you found me in and I had to throw those away because they were damaged for being held captive for so long."

"Well I guess you can wear some of my shirts until we find you some more clothes." The dragon slayer suggested.

"We have to do something, Natsu." Happy said. "She can't wear you're raggedy shirts forever."

"I-I really don't mind." Miia nervously spoke up. Natsu unwittingly ignored her.

"Hey! My shirts aren't raggedy…but you are right." he admitted to Happy. "We have to get her some clothes from somewhere." Natsu pondered the problem and was soon struck with a marvelous idea. "I got it! I know just the place to find Miia some clothes!"

"Really?" Miia questioned. She had no idea that there were shops in Magnolia that catered to Lamia.

"I wanna know too." Happy said.

"You already know where it is, Happy." Natsu replied.

The exceed titled his head to the side in his confusion. "I do?"

"Yeah. You've been there a bunch of times. I'll head there first thing in the morning!"

* * *

The birds sang their songs of morning outside the window of Lucy Heartfilia's cozy Magnolia apartment, but unlike most days these sweet tones failed to wake her. Instead the deed was done by the sound of cloth rustling and hangers clinking and clanging about.

Her eyes fluttered open. "What's going on?" she mumbled. She sat up and looked to her closest, her confusion turning to shock upon when what was making the noise was revealed. Sure enough she saw Natsu Dragneel, once again having broken into her house without permission. Only this time instead of his normal lazing around on her couch, working out, or trying to read her unfinished novel, he was going through her closet like a man possessed. Seeing some of her shirts and skirts were also in piles on the floor, Lucy's bubbled into anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she shrieked.

Natsu gave a her quick glance and resumed his search. "You're finally awake. Now you can help me look for clothes."

Lucy was not amused by his flippant attitude. "Natsu, you better tell me why you broke into my apartment **again**. Why are you going through my closet?"

"I told you I'm looking for clothes. Miia doesn't have anything to wear so I came here to get some of your shirts and stuff." He explained. "Don't worry. I didn't touch any of your underwear."

Lucy's cheeks burned red. "That's not the issue! And what makes you think Miia would be able to fit my clothes anyway?!" Lucy didn't view herself or Miia as fat by any means, but she would be hard pressed to think of anything she had that could fit a lamia.

"You guys are about the same size. You know? Up here." Natsu turned around and patted his chest.

Lucy looked down to her own chest, when she realized what Natsu meant she quickly covered her herself with her arms - she was still in her pajamas so nothing was howing, but she felt embarrassed all the same. Her anger reached a fever pitch. "Natsu~!" she growled.

When the dragon slayer turned around a third time his face flushed white with fear. Lucy was absolutely livid - probably as mad as he had ever seen her. She instantly changed into her Taurus Star Dress, her heavy footsteps left impressions in the wooden floor.

"Wait, Lucy! Hold on!" Natsu panicked with a frantic waving of his hands. "I was just trying to-"

The force of that morning's Lucy Kick rocked the entire building.

* * *

 **Happy Halloween! It's also Miia's Birthday! So what better way to celebrate than a new chapter?! Tried to integrate the characters more into the structure of the FT world by introducing Smith into the story. Comedy isn't really my forte so forgive me if that aspect of the chapter falters a bit.**

 **A few of you guys were speculating/asking if I was going to put any FT characters in this Harem. Sadly (or maybe not so sadly) the answer is no. Simple reason is that I already have a story like that (7 Pieces). So it would be kind of redundant if I put them in this too. It would also take focus away from the Liminals which isn't a good idea since this story is about them after all. There will be plenty of interactions between the Liminals and the FT cast, but as for romance, that is strictly exclusive to the MonMusu girls. Sorry if that upsets anybody.**

 **As always leave a comment/review letting me know what you think. Thanks fo reading! :)**


	3. The First Assignment

A most odd sound woke Natsu up this morning. There were no birds outside singing and Happy wasn't calling out to him. Not even the winds blowing through fallen leaves outside of his window had affected his slumber today. No this sound was much softer. It was also accompanied by a certain feeling. A feeling of warmth, but also constriction. There was also a muttering in his ear. A sweet voice belonging to someone who had just recently slithered into his life.

"Darling, this dress is wonderful. I can't wait to wear it on our wedding day."

"Darling? Wedding day? What?"

Natsu tried to roll over, but found himself instantly coiled in something. "What the hell? I can't move!" the dragon slayer struggled as best he could, but the pressure only increased the more he moved about. "Dammit. What's going on? Why can't I get free?" He heated his body up using his magic, but whatever was holding him tightened even more.

Natsu heard those peaceful moans in ear become more lustful and heated.

"Slow down, darling. Otherwise I'll lose myself."

Turning his head – the only part of his body that would move under his control – Natsu's eyes fell to a sleeping Miia.

"We can have as many children as you want, darling." She muttered to herself, her smile growing wider as her cheeks reddened.

It was then Natsu finally realized that he was once again caught in the iron grip of Miia's tail.

"Miia! Miia, wake up!"

"Five more minutes…"

She squeezed harder, the end of her tail slowly wrapping around Natsu's neck.

"M-Miia! Wake up…you're…choking me!" Natsu gasped. He desperately tapped on the Lamia's tail to get her to ease up, it didn't work.

"Oh, darling, you're so affectionate today." Miia nuzzled her head close to Natsu's chest, and her grip tightened one final time.

The next sound was Natsu's shoulder popping out of socket.

* * *

Gray and Gajeel had been rolling on the floor for well over two minutes now, their mocking laughter echoing throughout the guild hall. Natsu was so mad that he was starting to shake.

"Hold still." Carla scolded. "Wendy is almost done."

"Please bear with it a little longer, Natsu." Wendy said softly. Her small hands hovered over her fellow dragon slayer's shoulder, her magic working through his injury.

Lucy glared at the two young men on the floor. "Don't you guys think that's enough? It's not that funny."

Gajeel and Gray finally started to calm down and picked themselves up from the floor.

"Sorry." Gray apologized as he wiped a final tear from his eye and sat next to the celestial wizard. "You gotta admit that it was at least a little funny."

"I don't see what's so funny about one of our friends getting hurt."

"Then you must not have been paying attention, blondie." Gajeel interjected. "Also. 'Friend' is pretty strong word. If anything we're co-workers."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

"There. All done."

"Thanks, Wendy." Natsu rolled his newly healed shoulder around to get out the remaining kinks.

"How do you feel?"

"Much better thanks to you." Natsu's wide smile made the young girl blush.

"I'm so sorry!"

Everyone turned to Miia. The lamia had her head bowed so low that she was practically touching the floor.

"I never meant to hurt you, darling!"

There was a brief silence.

"Darling…?" Lucy questioned.

Miia's face flushed red. "I-I mean Natsu! I would never hurt you on purpose, Natsu!" She threw her head down again. This time it slammed on the floor.

"A-are you alright?!" Lucy shouted in fright.

"I'm…just…fine…" Miia dizzily replied, nursing the bump on her forehead. Wendy promptly went over to heal her. "T-thank you."

"No problem." The youngest dragon slayer smiled.

Miia turned to Natsu, guilt still clearly etched on her face. She was anxiously awaiting the scolding he would no doubt give her for once again sneaking into his room at night. That anxiousness turned to confusion when Natsu simply sighed.

"It's fine. Just try and stay in your own room from now on, ok?"

Miia nodded with a smile. "Right."

"You have to admit that this is a more than a little ironic." said Carla to Lucy. The blonde agreed with an amused grin and a sagely nod.

"Yeah. Now Natsu knows what it feels like to have someone invade his personal space. He probably won't learn his lesson though."

"Naturally."

"I think I understand how you feel now, Gray." Natsu realized. He placed his hand on his rival's shoulder.

"Aye." Happy agreed with a knowing nod.

"What are you talking about? Stop touching me." The ice wizard retorted, recoiling from the dragon slayer.

"Yes. My darling is nothing like the two of you." Juvia added.

"Where did you come from?"

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Carla asked her team.

"Same old. Same old." Replied Lucy. "We're waiting on Erza so we can pick a job."

"Where is she anyway?" Natsu asked.

"I think she's still at home." Wendy spoke up. "I think there is an inspection at Fairy Hills today."

"Well that sucks." Natsu groaned. He sat back in his chair, Miia quietly at his side.

It was an odd feeling the lamia experienced as she casually listened to the conversations being carried on by the wizards.. She was still very much nervous when it came to interacting with humans, but she managed to carve out a somewhat comfortable residence at Fairy Tail thanks to Natsu and his friends. Although there were still some things she wished she could become comfortable with, namely Kinana.

From what Miia gathered from talking with people Kinana was a snake creature as well...sort of. She had been apparently changed into a snake when she was very young by a very evil wizard. It wasn't until many years later that she was changed back into a human by Master Makarov. In a sense Miia felt a sort of kinship with her because of this, but she was much too afraid to talk to her about it because of her limited social skills with humans.

Miia looked over shoulder to the bar, and sure enough the barmaid quickly averted her gaze as if to imply she wasn't looking. The constant staring didn't help matters either. Ever since she arrived, Miia had noticed Kinana watching her whenever she was in the guild. No matter what she did she could feel Kinana's eyes on her. It was more than a little unsettling.

 _Is she afraid of me? Does she hate me? Why does she keep staring at me? It really freaks me out._

"Miia?"

The lamia snapped at attention and turned to Natsu. "Yes?"

"Something up? You spaced out."

Miia smiled in reassurance. "It's nothing."

"Are you still nervous around us?" Wendy innocently asked.

"A little, but not as much as I was at first."

"Oh, there you all are. Looks like I have perfect timing. Gotta thank my horoscope later."

Ms. Smith descended the stairs leading down from the second floor. With a bright smile on her face, she cheerfully approached the table.

"Good morning, everyone. How are you today?"

The wizards and Miia answered the Council Coordinator civilly. Natsu on the other hand was skeptical.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded with eyes narrowed. Smith's smile never wavered.

"I was speaking to Master Makarov more about our branch of the council and what we do. Just to see if we could get some sort of working relationship going. He said he was all for supporting us in anything should we need it." She leaned in, covering her mouth from view of the others in the guild. "Between you and me I think he just wants to look at pretty girls." She whispered.

"I wouldn't doubt that." Lucy chimed in.

"Neither would I." Carla added. Wendy and Juvia nodded as well.

"I also came here to give you your first assignment." Smith revealed to Natsu.

"What assignment?"

Smith fiddled around inside her suit jacket. "I know it's around here somewhere. I really hope I didn't leave it at home. I don't wanna travel that far just to come back and…got it! Here you go." Smith removed a folded piece of paper from her suit's inner breast pocket and handed it to a still confused Natsu.

The dragon slayer and his friends read over the paper. It looked very similar to a guild job posting, but it was much more neatly organized than what they were used to. For starters the paper was much nicer and softer than the parchment that was posted on their job board, and the font was much easier to read. There was also a picture of some sort of flying beast, but it was too blurry to clearly discern what it was.

"Possible Liminal Sighting near Oshibana. Investigation Requested." Lucy read the title aloud.

"So there's another one out there?" Gray asked.

Smith nodded. "Oh yeah. Liminals are all over the place. Normally he already know what Liminals are already out there in the world, but from time to time our department gets jobs like this dealing with ones that have somehow slipped under our radar. Sometimes the sightings are nothing more than pranks. Other times it's just normal run-of-the-mill beasts. But on occasion the sightings are actually Liminals."

"Which category does this job fall in?" Carla asked.

"We're thinking the latter. Based on our preliminary investigations there is about an eighty to ninety percent chance we're dealing with a Liminal."

"So why do I have to do it?" Natsu questioned.

Smith looked genuinely surprised for a moment. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You're officially a deputized member of the L.C.P.P.D."

"Lcppd?" Natsu repeated. "What kinda weird name is that? I never singed up for anything."

"Not 'Lccpd'." Lucy corrected. "L.C.C.P.D. The Liminal Culture Preservation and Protection Division. Remember? The branch of the Magic Council that helps people like Miia? The one Ms. Smith is apart of?"

It took a few seconds, but eventually everything started to click in Natsu's head. "Oh yeah….I remember now. I still didn't sign up to join it though."

"Actually you did." Smith reached inside her suit again, this time pulling out a rather large stack of papers. When she set it down the table shook, the document had to be at least four hundred papers thick.

"How did she keep that heavy stack in there without falling over?" Gray wondered.

"Perhaps she uses some sort of strength enhancement magic." Juvia surmised, her face dangerously close to Gray's.

"No magic, just good old-fashioned muscle." Smith boasted, flexing her somewhat slender arm. She flipped the packet to the last page and pointed to a crudely written signature at the bottom. "This is your handwriting, right?"

Natsu looked where Smith pointed, sure enough that was his name.

"Yeah, but I don't remember signing."

"Well you were nursing a bump Miia gave you at the time, but I'm pretty sure that you signed it. This signature not only means that you have agreed to house Miia until we have deemed her suitable for human society, but that you also agreed to be a deputized member of my unit."

"What?! That's unfair."

Smith shrugged. "I'm sorry, but that's how it is. You should really read the fine print next time."

"What if I don't want to be apart of the council?" Natsu argued.

"We find Miia a new home and throw you in jail for breach of contract."

"You can't do that!"

"Let me see." Lucy snatched the contract from Natsu and read it over with her Gale-Force Reading Glasses. Because of how dense the stack was Lucy had to use her 18x pair. When finished she placed the packet on the table and took off her glasses.

"Well?" Natsu prompted, hoping his partner had found some sort of loophole. His spirits fell when she shook her head in failure.

"It's ironclad. As long as you're hosting Miia you're pretty much a deputized member of the council."

"This sucks!"

"Maybe next time you'll look before you leap." Gray commented. Natsu threw a chair at him.

"I looked that time." The dragon slayer smirked. Gray quickly got into his face.

"You wanna go right now, pyro?!"

"Fine with me. I need to blow off some steam anyway."

"Can't you two go a single moment without bickering?" Carla sighed.

"Please don't fight." Wendy pleaded.

"Yes, please calm down, beloved." Juvia said to Gray.

"Natsu, you should really apologize." scolded Lucy.

"For what?!"

"Well throwing a chair for one. It's not Gray's fault you're in this mess."

Natsu sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest in a huff. "Whatever. Sorry I guess."

"What kind of half-assed apology was that?" The ice wizard retorted, staring daggers at his rival. Natsu didn't say anything more. Knowing that was the best he was gonna get Gray sat down as well. "You're lucky I'm too tired to fight right now."

 _Weren't you the one who challenged him in the first place?_ Lucy, Wendy, and Carla wondered.

Miia couldn't help but feel responsible for the whole affair as she watched Natsu's irritated expression. _I'm causing him trouble again._ She thought dejectedly.

"Don't get all bent out of shape about it." Smith chimed in with a smile. "You don't have to go to any meetings or any of that boring stuff. You also get paid for any job you complete for us."

"So I'm basically the council's lap dog?" Natsu guessed.

"Quite the contrary. While technically employed by the council you will retain your autonomy as a wizard of a legal guild, you report directly to me and no one else. No overhead from my bosses. You also have the right to turn down any job you feel is unsuitable to your tastes. You're freelance in basically every sense of the word. I kind of envy you a bit."

Natsu pondered Smith's explanation for a moment. Truth be told he had no idea what she had just told to him. _Auto what?_ The only words he understood were independent and freelance, and that was only because Lucy mentioned them once or twice that that was her status at Sorcerer Weekly. A "freelance reporter" as she called it.

"So I can still do what I want?"

Smith nodded. "Within reason. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but I'd appreciate it if you took these jobs every once in a while. You'd be doing me a big favor." With a pleading smile Smith winked at Natsu from above the rim of her shades.

Natsu sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Great! You're a lifesaver."

Natsu looked at the blurry picture on the paper. His friends crowded around him. "What's it supposed to be?"

"Well preliminary investigations say that we're most likely dealing with a Harpy."

"What did I do?" Happy asked.

"Harpy." Carla irritably corrected. "Pay attention."

Smith reached into her bottomless suit pocket once more and pulled out a small black book titled: "Liminal Species Field Guide". She opened it to a page with a picture of a slender girl with bird's wings in place of arms and talons instead of legs.

"This is a Harpy." She explained. "Completely mono-gendered, Harpies are an all female species. They usually colonize in mountainsides and high secluded places like that, but on rare occasions they do come down to mate. Just as their body would suggest they can fly like birds…but they aren't the brightest bulbs out there. Also like their namesake they tend to forget things after taking more than three steps."

"So what do you want me to do exactly?" Natsu asked.

"Just find out whether the sighting was of a Harpy or not and report back to us. We'll take it from there."

"What do you mean 'take it from there'?" Natsu's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Smith seemed on the up and up, but he still didn't fully trust the council.

"Oh come now don't look at me like that. We're not some big, bad, shady organization. We want to help Liminals. If it is a Harpy we'll either take her home, or find her a host family. Simple as that really. Can you leave in an hour?"

"I guess I-"

"Great! Here's a communication lacrima and a map of the area. Call me when you know what's going on. See ya then." Smith tossed the items into Natsu's hands and with one final wave she made her way to the door.

"Wait!" Lucy called out. "Can we go with him?"

"Sure. The more the merrier." Smith answered. "Speaking of which, you go too, Miia. It'll be a good chance for you to see more of the country."

The lamia's ears perked up. "What? M-Me?! But I-"

Just as Miia tried to offer a rebuttal Smith was long gone.

"She really does go at her own pace doesn't she?" Juvia asked to no one.

* * *

"This is the place." Said Lucy.

After an awkward train ride followed by an even more awkward – not to mention crowded – carriage ride, the team of Natsu, Miia, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, and Happy arrived in the small forest village of Poppy. According to the map Smith gave them, this was where the Harpy was last seen.

"Ok then. Where do we start?" Gray asked.

"Perhaps the townsfolk." Carla suggested. "I imagine they would have to know of any odd happenings around them."

Juvia looked around the outskirts of the village. They were surrounded on all sides by tall trees, bushes, and shrubs. "This Harpy creature is part bird, yes? She could be hiding in any one of these trees."

"Aye. We could be here all day." Happy added with a hint of exasperation.

"Well how about this? We'll search through town and ask the villagers if they've seen anything, while you and Carla fly around and search the forest." Lucy suggested.

Carla nodded in acceptance. "A fine plan."

"Yeah you can be pretty smart sometimes, Lucy." Happy smiled. The blonde was not amused.

"Watch it, cat."

"We should get started then." Gray said. "This place will be a nightmare to search at night."

"We'll report back if we find anything." Carla sprouted her wings. Happy did the same.

"Good luck, guys."

The exceeds flew off into the forest while everyone else started for town. That is everyone except Miia.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Wendy fretted.

Miia started to fidget. Unable to look at the wizards directly she chose to focus her worried gaze on the ground instead. "I…I don't think it's a very good idea for me to go with you all inside the village."

"What are you talking about? Of course you're coming. Don't be crazy." Natsu grabbed Miia's hand and pulled her along.

"Natsu, stop." Miia begged, trying to free herself. "I really can't go in there."

"Why not?" Suddenly Natsu's feet froze in place. "What the hell are you doing, Gray?!"

"Stopping you from doing something stupid, flame brain. She said she doesn't want to go, and honestly I don't blame her."

"Beloved?" Juvia wondered.

"What do you mean by that, Gray?" Lucy inquired.

"Think about it." the ice-wizard began."This village is supposedly being terrorized by this Harpy thing or whatever it is, right? That means the townspeople must already be on edge. Now, imagine what would happen if a group of strangers suddenly bring a snake girl into the village. It would be chaos, and we wouldn't get anything done."

"Miia's not some crazy monster!"

Gray remained clam in the midst of Natsu outbursts.

"I know she's not, but these villagers don't. I'm just trying to keep her out of trouble. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is your job."

Gray's icy glare was focused directly on Natsu. The dragon slayer felt his blood boil at the sight of his rival, the ice around his feet starting to melt into a puddle.

"Please don't fight." Miia begged. "He's right. I'll stay here and wait until you all come back."

"But, Miia-"

"It's ok. Really."

Natsu could see the pain behind Miia's smile. It was clear she wanted to interact with humans, but she was also fully aware of how they might perceive her. Lamia hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. They shouldn't have expected one village to be immune to time. Even still it was a frustrating situation.

Natsu sighed. "Fine. We'll stay behind and wait for you guys."

Miia was shocked. "Natsu, you don't have to stay."

"Yeah I do. As much as I hate to say it, the stripper is right. I'm supposed to be looking after you. That means I'm not leaving leave you behind. If you stay. I stay."

Miia felt that warm flutter in her heart again.

"Then we'll head in. We'll let you know if we find anything out." Said Lucy.

"Be back soon." Wendy waved. The four wizards made their way into the village, leaving Natsu and Miia alone on the path.

Natsu sat on the ground, and started fiddling around with the rocks. "This sucks." he complained.

Miia sat down next to him, her face once again clouded with shame and worry. "I'm sorry. I'm always causing you trouble."

"Hm? No you don't." Natsu denied. "I don't mind waiting with you, I'm just irritated that Gray was the one that told me to do it. If it was Erza or Lucy I wouldn't mind as much, but I hate when that jerk is right."

"Is Gray your enemy or something?"

"Not really. I mean I don't like him all that much, but I don't hate him enough to call him an enemy. We're guildmates after all. He's more like a rival."

Miia watched Natsu stand up and stretched his back. "Waiting here is going to get pretty boring after a while. Let's go help Carla and Happy in the forest." He held out his hand to Miia with a smile.

Miia nodded. "Ok." She reached out to him, but just as their fingers touched Natsu was suddenly snatched into the air.

"What this hell is going o~n!" he shouted in a panic as he flew away. Miia looked on in horror.

"Natsu~!"

* * *

Natsu regained consciousness sometime later. His head was throbbing, and for some reason his mouth felt very dry. When he coughed, he saw a couple of blue feathers float out of his mouth.

"What happened?"

When he tried moving he noticed that his legs were dangling in midair. Looking down, he realized that he was hanging from the branch of a very tall tree in the forest.

"How the hell did I get up all the way up here?"

"You finally wake up?"

Natsu followed the cadence of a rather cheery voice to a petite girl hovering directly in front of him. She had slightly messy, light-blue hair with a cowlick that fluttered in the breeze, and bright orange eyes that were enhanced by her rather innocent smile, but the most important features that Natsu noticed about the mysterious girl were the blue wings in place of her arms, and the razor sharp talons in place of her feet.

She smiled wide at the astonished Dragon Slayer.

"I'm Papi!" she introduced cheerfully. "Papi the Harpy!"

* * *

 **New chapter! This one featuring the introduction of my personal favorite MonMusu girl: Papi! (Zombina, Lala, and Arachne are close seconds). I honestly got this chapter out much quicker than I thought I was going to. Guess I just had the ideas flowing with this one. Lucky me I guess.**

 **As always leave a comment/review letting me know what you think. Thanks for reading! :)**


	4. The Second House Guest

"The entire village is empty."

"It's really quiet too. The air is still."

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Don't worry, my love. Should anything happen I will be right here to protect you."

Juvia snuggled closer to her beloved Gray. He somewhat awkwardly pushed her away.

The further Lucy's group ventured into Poppy, the more uneasy they became. As was pointed out when they arrived, no one was outside. It was as if the entire town had been abandoned. Even still the wizards could feel eyes watching them from the homes around them.

"I think they're watching us." Wendy uneasily noted.

"Question is why?" Gray wondered. His hand began to exude a freezing mist. "If they want to ambush us then they should just get on with it. I've been itching for a fight."

Juvia's readied herself for battle as well. "I agree. Let them come."

"Calm down, you two." Lucy said. "They're more than likely scared."

"Of us?"inquired Wendy .

"Probably, or maybe they're afraid of the Harpy."

"Hey you!"

The wizards heard a voice and saw a indigo-haired woman poking her head out from one of the house doorways. For some reason she was irritably motioning for them to come over. They did.

Without warning a large arm reached through the darkness and pulled the wizards into the house. They piled on the floor with a thud. They looked up and saw that they were surrounded by a family of four: the woman that called to them, the man that pulled them in, and a set of twins.

"What are y'all thinkin' standin' out in the middle of the dang road like that?" The woman scolded. "You kids gotta death wish or somethin'?"

The Fairy Tail wizards were rightfully confused by the sight of this strange woman yelling at them.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Gray demanded.

"Name's Emily." The woman finally introduced. "The big lug that saved y'alls hides is my husband Adam and those are our kids Johnathan and Maria. Also watch your mouth. There are children here. Understand?"

The look in Emily's eyes was a fierce one. Gray saw flashes of Ur and quickly backed down.

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"Now tells us why you've been skulkin' around town. You four are awfully suspicious."

"Says the woman yanking strangers into her house." Gray muttered under his breath. When he felt Emily's eyes on him again, he went silent.

"W-we're here for a job." Wendy timidly answered.

"A job?" the fiery woman raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "What kinda job brings you all the way out here? You merchants or somethin'?"

"No. We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild." Lucy explained, showing the family her guild mark – the others did the same. "We're here on a job from the Magic Council to investigate a Harpy that was sighted near this town."

Emily's eyes widened. "A…harpy?"

"Yeah." Gray nodded.

"Would you happen to know anything about?" Juvia asked.

Emily snatched Lucy's hand. "You mean Papi, right?!"

"W-what?" The blonde was startled by the woman's sudden mood shift. One minute she was grilling them like she was interviewing with the custody enforcement division, and now she looked as if one of her children had been taken.

"Papi? I don't-"

"Please tells us she's alright!" Adam pleaded.

"Is Papi ok?!" the kids implored.

The Fairy Tail wizards didn't know what to do, but it was clear that whatever they **thought** was going on the village was being called into serious question.

* * *

Happy and Carla soared through the forest as fast they could, looking every which way for the elusive Harpy said to be terrorizing the village of Poppy.

"See anything yet?"

"Nothing. This forest is much bigger than I originally thought. The creature could be anywhere. Perhaps it would be better if we soar a little higher and get a better look of the area."

"Aye."

Just as they prepared to ascend, they heard an angry yelling in the distance coming behind them.

"What in the world is that?"

"I don't know, but it's coming closer!" Happy panicked. "Is it the Harpy?!"

"Calm down and prepare yourself." Carla transformed into her human form. "We may be in for a fight."

"Aye." Happy grabbed two fish from his pack, wielding them like clubs. It probably wouldn't do much against the monster, but it was all he had to defend himself. He also had an obligation as man - rather cat - to protect Carla.

As the noise drew ever closer, Carla and Happy could feel the hairs on their bodies standing up. They tensed when they saw the outline of the creature come into view. Instead of travelling through the air – which is what they assumed Harpies did – whatever was coming after them slithered like a snake along the ground.

Wait…a snake?

"Come back here!" Miia the lamia sped past the exceeds, ignoring them completely as she blazed a trail in the dirt. "Bring back my darling right now, you bird-brain, darling-napper~!"

"She's fast!"

"Don't just stand there, Tom Cat! We have to follow her!"

"A-aye!"

* * *

Natsu had no idea what to make of the situation he currently found himself in. After a rather confusing introduction – in which she forgot her own name at least three separate times – Papi the Harpy brought him to a lake in the center of the forest.

He didn't know why she brought him here, but at the very least she didn't **seem** like she wanted to hurt him – despite her less than gentle way of carrying him through the air. So he chose to observe her for the time being. Perhaps he would find out just why she was causing so much trouble in the village. He could also stand to get off his feet for a little while.

He sat on the lake bed, watching as the excitable Harpy splashed around in the clear waters of the lake as if she were a child of Asuka's age.

"Why did you bring me all the way out here anyway?"

Papi stopped splashing and looked to the dragon slayer quizzically. "To take a bath."

"Wha-" Before Natsu could utter another word Papi somehow threw her tube top and shorts at his face. "What's the big idea?!"

Tearing away the clothes from his eyes, Natsu noticed that the strange Harpy was now completely nude. His cheeks flushed red.

"Why are you naked?!"

"I told you I was taking a bath." Papi answered matter-of-factly "You don't listen very well."

"You're one to talk!" Natsu shielded his eyes and quickly turned his back to her, if he had learned one thing throughout his life it was that women never liked to be peeked on when they were bathing – numerous beatings from Erza, Lucy, and even Mirajane hammered that point home quite well. "W-whatever. Just do what you want."

Without warning Papi grabbed Natsu by the collar with her talons and pulled him into the lake. She sat on his chest, her naked body shining in the sunlight filtering through the canopy of the trees. Her chest really wasn't much to write home about, but her bottom was much fitter and bigger than Natsu expected.

"Bathe with me!" she chirped, unknowingly rubbing her butt on his crotch. "You're sweaty from running away from the waffle too right?!"

Natsu came up for air, his cheeks red from both being under so long, and Papi's bouncing.

"I don't need a bath! I-wait…waffle? What waffle?"

"There you are!"

Miia - followed by an exhausted Happy and Carla - burst out of the tree line with a very angered look in her eyes. Papi was confused at these new strangers, but Natsu could tell that something bad was about to happen.

"So that's the Harpy?" Happy asked. "She's not as scary as I thought she was going to be."

"Why in the world is she naked?" Carla wondered. She looked over to Natsu, whose face was still red. "Just what were you going to do with her?"

"Nothing!" The dragon slayer fiercely defended. "She just grabbed me and-"

"You, chicken-legged brat!" Miia shouted, her finger firmly pointed at Papi. "First you steal my darling away, and then you bring him to this romantic lake to have an erotic bath with him?! You...You...I'm so jealous! I wanted to bathe with him too! But he always rejects me! Well not anymore!" she started to take her top off.

Natsu's eyes started to widen when he saw Miia's bra, but Carla transformed and immediately stopped the lamia before she went too far.

* * *

"Here you go. It ain't much, but it should help settle your stomachs for the time bein'."

Emily placed a plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table where her family and Fairy tail wizards all sat.

"Thank you." Wendy bowed her head in appreciation.

"It was no problem, darlin'. Eat up."

"So you were saying this Harpy-" Juvia began.

"Papi." Emily corrected.

"My apologies. Papi. She's a resident of the village?"

"Not exactly. She just sort of showed up outta the blue a couple of months ago. There we were, harvesting crops like we do every fall when this girl with wings and bird legs literally falls from the sky and lands in the pumpkin fields. Suffice to say we were all a lil shocked by it."

"You weren't scared of her?" Lucy asked.

"A lil bit, but when she flashed those big white teeth at us and introduced herself we knew she didn't mean any real harm."

"Where did she come from?" Gray inquired. "It's not every day you see something like that."

"She said she came from a village in the middle of the mountains and was flying around looking for humans to play with. Said she'd never seen any before."

"That's…odd." Lucy noted.

"That's Papi in a nutshell." Emily chuckled. "Soon after that a lady in a real fancy suit came 'round and told us Papi was somethin' called a 'Liminal'. She asked us to take care of her until she could find a way to return her home."

"A woman in a fancy suit?" Wendy questioned. Somehow that description sounded familiar to the young dragon slayer.

"They must mean Ms. Smith." Lucy surmised.

"Yeah her." Emily remembered. "Nice lady. A lil scatterbrained though."

The Fairy Tail wizards couldn't argue with that assessment.

"Anywho we agreed to let Papi stay in the village. While the adults worked in the fields she would keep the little kids occupied." She hugged her own children. "They couldn't get enough of her."

"She sounds really nice." Wendy smiled. She was relieved that the Harpy wasn't bad.

"Papi's a little on the naïve side, but she's a sweet girl. Really helped us out a lot" Emily's smile slowly gave way to a sullen frown. "That is until the wyvern came knockin' at our doors."

* * *

"Waffle?"

"Mhm! A bif mondhf djfhwps hdnf-"

"Please swallow your food if you must talk." Carla sighed.

Papi finished the piece of fish in her mouth and spoke again. "A big monster with wings came to the village and scared everyone! Papi moved it away...but she got lost and can't find her way back."

"Do you really have to sit in my lap to explain all this stuff?"

Natsu, while empathetic of the harpy's plight, felt his legs start to go numb from supporting her weight for so long.

"Papi likes it here!" she smiled. "It's nice and warm like a nest!"

Miia's jealousy started to boil over again. "You little-"

"Judging by your description I think you mean a 'Wyvern' not a waffle." Carla stated. "But the fact still remains that the situation is pretty harrowing."

"Aye." Happy nodded while chewing on his own fish. "What should we do?"

"Well it's obvious that we should inform the others of what is going on, but we should stay low to the ground. We wouldn't want to attract the creature back to the village."

"We're going back to the village?! Yay!" Papi exclaimed, rocking back and forth in Natsu's lap. Once again her butt was rubbing his crotch.

"Would you get off me already?!"

"I'm so jealous!" Miia whined.

"This really isn't the time!"

* * *

"So the Wyvern came, Papi lured it away, and you haven't seen her since?" Lucy clarified.

"That's pretty much the long and short of it." Emily confirmed with a nod.

"Where's the Wyvern now?" inquired Juvia.

"Its cave is inside the forest. It swoops down every couple of days and gets into our crops. It's gotten to the point where we can't even plant anything new because we're scared it'll attack us."

"That's terrible." Wendy sympathized.

"Without those crops the village won't be able to sustain itself very long." Adam explained. "We depend on them to not only feed ourselves, but to sell to merchants as well."

"What are we going to do?" Lucy looked to her friends for options.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Gray replied. "We gotta get rid of the Wyvern."

"Yeah, but how? Wyvern's aren't exactly the friendliest creatures in the world. We can't just talk it down."

"We'll just beat it up until it stops coming through town."

Lucy sighed. "Looks like we're going spelunking. Glad I didn't wear anything too nice."

"Hello! Anybody here!"

A familiar voice rang out in the empty town. Lucy and the others looked out of the window. Sure enough they saw Natsu, Carla, Happy, Miia, and a mysterious blue-haired girl with wings and talons.

"Is that…?"

"It's Papi!" Emily's children exclaimed.

"Nobody's here." Papi said sadly. "Did they leave Papi behind?"

"I think it's more likely that they are hiding from the Wyvern." Carla surmised. "I can see people peeking out of their windows."

"They must be really frightened." Miia said. She held onto Natsu's arm. "I don't blame them."

"Could you ease up a bit?" the dragon slayer requested. "You're gonna squeeze my arm off."

Happy echoed Miia's concerns. "What are we going to do?"

"That's easy!" Natsu answered. "Well meet up with the others and take that thing down!"

"Aye!" Happy's mood suddenly elevated.

"Quiet, you dolts!" Carla hissed. "You're attracting more unwanted attention to us!"

"Hey, Papi!"

The Harpy looked ahead. When she saw Emily and her family poking their heads out of their house her eyes lit up.

"You're still here!"

"Course we are." Emily boasted. "No overgrown lizard was gonna run us outta town without a fight."

Lucy's group stepped out of the house as well. "We're here too."

* * *

"Gotta admit I wasn't expectin to have so many visitors today."

Emily chuckled. In addition to her own family, the number of people squeezed in her home's common area now included five wizards, two exceeds, a harpy, and a lamia. Raising the body count from a modest four, to a crowded thirteen. As expected there was barely enough space for all of them to fit. In fact it was so bad that Miia had to hang her tail out of an open window.

"Sorry for imposing so much on you all." Lucy apologized.

"It's quite alright. We're just glad that Papi is safe and sound." Adam smiled.

The Harpy in question was playing with the kids in the kitchen.

"Where'd you find her anyway?" asked Emily.

"In the forest." Natsu answered. "Said she got lost after luring the Wyvern away from town."

"That sounds like her. Girl's so scatterbrained."

Miia couldn't help but feel a tad uncomfortable as she watched the others converse in front of her. She opted to stay outside, but Natsu wouldn't hear of it. He practically forced her inside with the rest of them.

"Somethin wrong, darlin?"

Miia was brought out of her head by Emily's question. The woman looked the lamia directly in the eyes, her gaze showing no hints of fear or hatred.

"You want somethin' to eat?"

"N-no." Miia politely declined. "Y-you're not…"

"Not what? I can't hear you if you don't speak up."

Miia's tail waved apprehensively out of the window. "You're not...afraid of me?"

Emily cocked her head to the side. "There a reason I should be?"

Miia was taken aback. Emily saw this and elaborated on her question.

"I admit I was little scared when I saw ya for the first time, but truth be told I don't care what you look like. As long as you're good to me an mine, we'll be good to you. That's one of the cardinal rules of this here village. Besides it'd be kinda unfair to be scared of a nice girl like you when you're not that different from Papi. So I'll ask again, do I needa be scared of you?"

Miia started to smile. "N-no, ma'am. You don't."

Emily grinned. "That's what I thought. Now let's get you somethin' to eat."

"I-It's ok you don't have to! I-"

"Nonsense. You're a growing girl and guest. One of the ironclad rules in this house is all guests eat. No exceptions. Now what ya hungry for?"

Miia saw no point in arguing anymore. She resigned herself to her tasty fate. "E-eggs please."

"Scrambled?"

"…Boiled."

"Two boiled eggs comin' up."

Lucy smiled as she watched Miia fidget around. "It's nice to know that there are people out there who accept people like Miia and Papi."

Wendy agreed. "Ms. Emily and her family are really nice."

"So how will we deal with the Wyvern?" Juvia asked, brining Lucy and Wendy's attention back to their strategy meeting. "Should we wait until it returns to town?"

"Not a good idea." Gray shot down. " We don't know when it'll show up. Besides if things escalate into a fight then we'll just end up causing damage to the town. We should go to its cave and deal with it there."

"Yeah." Natsu punched his palm with a flaming fist. "We'll take the fight to it."

"Calm down, pyro. I said **if** we have to fight it. Wyverns have roughly the same intelligence as humans. We might be able to convince it fly somewhere else."

Natsu instantly deflated at his rival's plan.

"That's no fun at all. I wanted to punch some stuff."

"Punch yourself then. We came here to investigate the Harpy, not fight monsters. In case you forgot this was **your** job in the first place."

"You calling me stupid, you droopy-eyed punk?"

"Took you long enough to notice, you pink-haired jerk."

"Hey! No fightin' in the house! You wanna feud, take it outside!"

Natsu and Gray quickly settled down when they saw Emily's death stare from the kitchen. It was like Erza had come along with them.

* * *

After a somewhat brief discussion the plan was finally decided upon. Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and Papi would go into the forest and investigate the Wyvern's cave, while the rest stayed behind to look after the village in case the creature made an appearance.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go?" Lucy asked for what would be the third time. It wasn't that she was worried about the safety of her friends, it was more like she didn't trust Natsu and Gray to complete the task on their own without starting a brawl along the way. It wasn't an unfounded concern to have in the least.

"You guys to stay behind in case Natsu screws up." Gray told her.

"You wanna go, Ice Pop?!"

Lucy sighed roughly. It had already begun.

"Please be careful, you guys." Wendy's concerns were actually for their safety.

"You too, Papi." added Emily.

"Don't worry! This guy will protect Papi!" The excitable Harpy clutched Natsu's arm, much to Miia's annoyance.

Miia quickly slithered to Natsu, her eyes showing her worry as she yanked Papi away from him.

"Hey!"

The lamia ignored her shout.

Natsu gave Miia a thumbs up.

"We'll take care of that monster and be back in no time. Look after everyone alright?"

Miia accepted this with a short nod. "Ok."

After a few more well wishes the group set off on their hunt for the Wyvern. Papi took to the air, leading the others into the forest.

"It only seems to get denser the further we go." Juvia commented as she batted branches out of her path. "It's hard to see anything."

"You're right." Gray agreed. "Is she sure the cave is around here?"

"I don't see a one." Happy commented.

"Yo, Papi!"

She Natsu answered from above. "Yeah?!"

"You sure the cave is around here?! We can't see anything!"

"Papi is sure she saw it here! But you gotta be quiet! If you wake up the Waffle we'll get in trouble!"

"You're the one yelling the loudest." Gray muttered.

"Papi sees the cave!"

The Fairy Tail wizards came upon a large cliff that towered over the entire forest. Papi landed next to Natsu.

"You sure this is the place?" inquired Gray. He didn't really doubt her but it never hurt to be sure.

"Papi followed it here one time. This is where the waffle lives."

"We should be careful going in." Juvia advised. "Wyverns can be very nasty creatures when provoked."

"Yeah. We need to be-"

"You guys coming or what?!"

Much to the astonishment of the others Natsu was already halfway inside the cave.

"You idiot!" Gray ran after him. "We told you to wait!"

"Hold on, my love!" Juvia chased Gray.

"Wait for Papi!"

* * *

Natsu lead the trail into the Wyvern's lair using his hand as a torch. All around the dank cave were the bones of animals no doubt consumed by the Wyvern, as well as the broken remains of wooden carts that the villagers used to transport their vegetables once they were done harvesting them. They counted themselves lucky that they didn't see any human bones yet. Juvia tightly clung to Gray. The cave was much deeper than they had previously anticipated.

"It is certainly dark in here."

"Caves usually are, and could you stop squeezing my arm so hard? You're gonna pull it off."

Papi was scared as well, holding onto the back of Natsu's vest with her claws. It was as if she felt he would disappear if she let go of him.

"Papi doesn't like it in here. It's scary."

"You can wait outside if you want." Natsu suggested. "We just needed you to find the cave for us. You didn't have to come in."

"No, Papi had to come!" the Harpy asserted. "The nice town people did so much for Papi when she couldn't go home. She has to help them!"

"That is very brave of you, Papi." Juvia praised. She could relate to being taken by the kindness of strangers. The guild mark on emblazoned her thigh was proof enough of that.

Natsu's nose caught a somewhat putrid scent in the air. "I smell something. I think we're close."

"You have a good nose. Are you part dog?" asked Papi.

"No. I'm a dragon slayer."

The Harpy tilted her head. "A dagger sayer?"

"No! A dragon-"

"Shh!" hissed Gray.

The group were approaching a room at the end of the cave, inside they finally saw the wyvern they had been searching for. Its shimmering lime-green scales glistening from the light created by the gems that illuminated the area. Its back was to the intruders, it's breaths slow and steady. It was currently sleeping.

Juvia whispered to Gray. "What do we do?"

"I don't know. Waking it up wouldn't be a good idea, but if we leave it be it'll more than likely try and attack the village again when it wakes up."

As Gray weighed their options, he felt Juvia tug on his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"Um…over there."

She pointed to the Wyvern, or more accurately to Natsu, who was collecting the gems close around the beast's feet.

"I bet these would look great on the wall." he said with a smile. "We could probably sell a couple too and get a bunch of money. I could really use more training stuff."

"What are you doing, you idiot?!"

Natsu's eyebrow twitched at the sound of his rival's voice. Her whipped around, his eyes full of fire.

"Who are you calling an idiot, you frozen pervert?!"

"Who do you think, you flame-brained moron! You're going to wake up the wyvern! Get back over here!"

"Please, you two, this no time to argue." Juvia pleaded.

"Do they hate each other?" Papi muffled.

"Something like that. It's…what's in your mouth?"

"Eggs."

Juvia saw some of the jewels from the cave inside the Harpy's mouth.

"Those aren't eggs." She sighed.

"You wanna go right now?!"

"Bring it!"

Natsu and Gray continued to argue near the Wyvern. As their squabble intensified, Juvia and Papi noticed that the Wyvern was beginning to stir from its slumber.

"Beloved? Natsu?" Juvia meekly called.

"Hit me! I dare you!"

"Why?! Are you scared to throw the first punch, pinky?!

"Boys?" Juvia put a little more force into her call. It once again went unnoticed.

"Try me, Popsicle!"

"Bring it on, charcoal breath!"

"Boys!" Juvia finally screamed.

"What?!"

"The waffle woke up." Papi pointed.

Natsu and Gray slowly turned around, coming face to face with an angered wyvern. The creature exhaled hot breath from it's nostrils before letting loose a mighty roar that covered both Natsu and Gray in globs of saliva.

Within seconds they started running, Juvia and Papi not far behind as the Wyvern started to give chase.

"Nice going, Juvia." Natsu blamed.

"You two were the ones arguing!"

"We can talk about whose fault it is once we make it out alive!" Gray shouted to them.

"Papi sees the exit!"

"We won't make it before it catches us! Let me fry it!" Natsu suggested.

"Dummy, if you do that you'll fry all of us. I can get us out."

 _ **ICE MAKE: SLIDE**_

Gray created a patch of ice for everyone to slide on. He and Juvia were able to traverse the path somewhat comfortably. Natsu and Papi, however, were a different story.

"Get off me! I can't see!"

"Papi can't! She'll fall!"

The energetic Harpy was sitting precariously on Natsu's shoulders as they slid down the path, her wings covering his eyes.

"It's almost reached us!" Juvia shouted as she looked over her shouder.

"We're almost there!" yelled Gray. "Brace yourselves!"

The slide sloped down the hill, allowing the group to narrowly escape the Wyvern as it soared out of the cave. Gray created a wall at the bottom of the hill to stop their momentum.

"Everyone alright?"

"Yes." Juvia answered as she rubbed her head. "I'm fine."

"Papi is ok." The Harpy dizzily replied with her butt in the air.

"What about you, Natsu?" Gray looked around but he didn't see the Dragon Slayer anywhere near them. "Natsu, where are you?!"

"Hel~p!"

A screamed echoed from high above. It was Natsu. He had been captured by the wyvern was currently trapped in the beast's claws.

"Of course he got caught." Gray sighed.

"Oh no!" yelled Papi.

"It's heading towards the village." Juvia pointed out.

"Come on! We gotta catch it!"

* * *

In the village, Lucy and the others were anxiously awaiting their friends' safe return from the Wyvern's lair.

"Will Natsu really be ok?" Miia asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her worry steadily grew with each passing second. All she could think about was Natsu getting eaten by the creature.

"Yes." Lucy answered for what felt like the millionth time. "Natsu, Gray, and Juvia are three of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail. One Wyvern is no problem for them."

Emily entered with a steaming pot of soup. "Dinner's on. Get it while it's hot." Just as she placed the food on the table, a blood-curdling roar ripped through the air.

"W-what was that sound?" Wendy asked.

"It's horrible." Carla shuddered.

"Aye." Happy agreed, quaking in his seat.

"That's the Wyvern." Emily answered with a touch of fear.

"Stay here." Lucy ordered. "Wendy. Carla. Come on."

The pair followed the blonde out of the house. Looking to the sky, they saw a shadowed figure diving towards the village.

"Get down!"

The trio ducked as the Wyvern swooped back into the air.

"Lucy~!"

"Natsu?!" The blonde finally noticed her friend in the claws of the creature.

"How did this happen?!"

"Oh no!"

"Natsu~!"

"Darling!" Miia dashed out of the house and stretched out her tail as far as she could. "Grab on!"

Natsu reached with everything he had, but was only able to rub his finger against the tip of the Miia's tail as the Wyvern soared back into the air.

"No! Natsu!" Miia cried.

"We have to get him down." Wendy panicked.

"I know," Lucy said. She thought of using Sagittarius' Star Dress and shooting him down, but the sun obscured her view and an errant shot could end up hurting Natsu. "But I don's know how."

"Hey!"

Gray, Juvia, and Papi returned to the village.

"I'm so glad you guys are ok." Lucy said.

"Yeah." Gray returned. "You see Natsu?"

"The Wyvern still has him."

"Dammit! Let me go!" Natsu punched the Wyvern's toe with a flaming fist, finally forcing the creature to drop him. "I didn't really think this through!"

"Natsu!" Happy sprouted his wings, but Papi was just a split second faster.

She soared into the air, catching Natsu before he hit the ground.

"Papi's got you! You're safe now!"

"Thanks, Papi. I owe you one." As the Harpy held him in mid-air, Natsu saw the Wyvern circling back to the village. "Hey, do you think you can drop me on its back?"

"Papi will try! Super speed!"

Papi raced to the Wyvern, Natsu barely being able to hang on.

 _She's even faster than Happy!_ He saw the creature coming closer.

"Drop me!"

"Okey!"

Papi let go and Natsu landed on the creatures back, rolling back and grabbing one of its spiked protrusions as it took another pass at the village.

"Oh no you don't!"

Natsu made his way to the creature's head and yanked the metal collar around it's neck, forcing it upward and away from the village.

 _Gotta get it away from the village!_

Natsu tugged on the collar again, forcing the Wyvern back over the forest. He spotted the lake that Papi had brought him too earlier.

 _There!_ He drew back his fist, flames licking around it. "Time to go to back to sleep!"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST**_

Natsu smashed the wyvern on the top of its head, knocking it out. The now unconscious beast took a sharp dive towards the lake.

"Oh crap!"

Natsu held onto the metal collar for dear life, bracing himself in a thin layer as the Wyvern crashed into the lake with an earsplitting splash that could be heard all the way from the village.

"Natsu!"

Lucy and the gang arrived as fast as they could to the lake. All around them the water that once filled the lake was coming down like rain - Juvia shielding from it with an umbrella made of water - but when the downpour stopped all they could see was the Wyvern's unresponsive body lying in a crater. There was a mix of emotions.

"Where is he?"

"Is he ok?"

"Do you think he…?"

"Natsu~!"

"Darling!"

Slowly the wyvern started to roll over. When it was lying on it's side, Natsu emerged from the crater, his clothes and scarf dirtied from the fall.

"That was a close one, but my clothes still got all dirty." He smiled when he saw his friends. "What's up, guys?"

A wave of relief washed over everyone.

"Thank goodness." Juvia sighed.

"Don't scare us like that, idiot." Gray grinned.

"Seriously. You almost gave me a heart attack." smiled Lucy.

"I completely agree." added Carla.

Wendy and Happy cheered.

Just as Natsu was close to reuniting with the group Miia and Papi tackled him to the ground.

"Darling, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Papi is happy too!"

They both nuzzled to his as closely as they could too.

"Ok! Ok!" Natsu laughed. Papi's feathers were tickling his nose. "I get it. I'm glad you guys are ok too. Can I get up now?"

* * *

"Good work, everyone! I knew you could do it!" Smith laughed uproariously as she praised Natsu and company for a job well done. "Looks like the village is safe now. You wizards sure are a big help. I should ask you guys for help more often."

"Not a chance." Gray murmured.

"Wait. Did you **know** about the wyvern?" Lucy inquired.

Smith instantly started sweating. "I mean I wasn't **unaware** of it…it's just that I didn't-I mean **couldn't** really do anything about it at the time because of all of the open cases on my desk. Running a division of the council is hard work you know."

Smith laughed again.

"She was just using us to do work she was assigned." Carla muttered.

"What a lazy woman." Juvia commented.

Smith cleared her throat. "Moving on. Thank you again, Fairy Tail, for helping us out. You don't know how much it means to us."

"You're welcome." Gray said. "But try and give us a little warning next time you throw us into something dangerous."

"Will do."

"What's going to happen to the wyvern?" Wendy asked.

"I have people working on that." Smith pointed behind her to the creature in question. It was being scolded by what appeared to be some sort of lizardwoman and an Oni woman in suits.

"Are they liminals too?" Carla asked.

"Sure are."

"I didn't know you employed them as well as find them places to live." Juvia said in shock.

"Why wouldn't we? They're just normal girls like you and me. Now, Papi."

"Yeah?" The Harpy looked to the coordinator.

"You have two options. Do you want to stay here among us humans? Or do you want to go back to the Harpy village?"

"You know the way back?" Natsu asked.

Smith nodded. "We've known about it for a little while now. I just wanted Papi to experience life among humans for a little bit longer, but after this whole debacle I was thinking it would probably be the safest thing to return her home. So what'll it be?"

Papi thought for a moment. "Papi…wants to stay."

Smith smiled. "I gad a feeling that would be your answer. Alright then. You can stay-"

"But!" the Harpy interrupted. "Papi wants to stay with this guy!" She wrapped her wings around Natsu and smiled, much to the anger of Miia.

"Get off of him, you bird-brained brat!" She pushed Papi away from Natsu.

"What was that for?! Do you want to fight?!"

"Bring it on!"

"This looks familiar." Lucy said under breath.

"Aye." Happy agreed. They both looked to Gray.

"What?"

"Hey, cut it out!" Natsu seperated the pair. "You're gonna hit me too!"

"I'm sorry, darling." Miia apologized.

"Papi is sorry too."

"Well, Natsu?" Smith prompted. "Are you ok with Papi staying with you?"

Natsu looked into the Harpy's big orange eyes. They were almost begging him to say yes. His defenses worn down, he smiled and shrugged.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Yay!" Papi hugged him again.

"What did I just say about touching him?!" Miia shrieked. "Get off!"

"Now, Papi, Natsu is the boss of the house." Smith told her. "So you have to listen to everything he says ok?"

"Okay! Let's go home, boss!"

"Hold on!"

Papi grabbed Natsu with her talons and flew off, and angry Miia chasing after.

* * *

"No! Stay away from me!"

Far away from the renewed tranquility of Poppy village. A frightened woman was being chased by a gang of bandits under the burning light of the moon.

"Don't be like that, honey. We just want to have a little fun."

The woman tripped on a rock and fell into the dirt. She was quickly surrounded by her pursuers.

"Please don't hurt me." She begged, her arms covering her body. "Leave me alone."

"I told you. We just wanted to have a little fu-"

A swing of a sword stopped the lecherous man in his tracks.

"Halt, foul villains!"

The bandits jumped back. Having appeared between them and the woman looked to be a knight in shining armor on horseback.

"What the hell kind of get up is that?"

"You think it's one of the Rune Knights?"

"I've never seen Rune Knight armor like that before. Besides why would a Rune Knight be all the way out here in the middle of the night? Must be some jerk playing dress up."

The knight pointed their blade at the bandits. "I shall offer thee one final chance. Leave this fair maiden be or face my steel."

"In case you have noticed it's four on one." The leader of the bandits smirked. "Maybe **you're** the one that should be taking a hike."

"A knight never flees in the face of injustice."

"Fine. Don't say we didn't warn you. Let's get 'em boys!"

The bandits raised their weapons and charged. The assaulted woman cowering near the knight's horse.

"Do not fear. I will protect you."

In one swift motion the knight parried the lead bandits axe, disarming him, and sending him face first into the dirt. His comrades were felled just as quickly, all of them either being knocked away or knocked out by the bottom of the knight's sword.

The woman sat in awe of the display. Not only did the knight directly use the blade of their weapon, the way their horse moved was as if it was a part of their own body rather then a separate creature.

All of the bandits laid beaten in the dirt. Writhing in pain from being utterly bested by the knight in shining armor.

"Had enough?"

The injured bandits used one each other to prop themselves up. When they saw that the knight was not backing down, they made a hasty retreat into the night.

"You haven't seen the last of us!"

Once they were gone the knight helped the woman to her feet.

"Are you injured?"

"N-No. I'm fine. Thank you so much for your help."

"Twas no trouble at all. Tis the duty of a knight to aid those in need. Are you able to walk?"

"Y-yes. My home is in that village over there." She pointed to a lacrima lamp lit village not far from the path. "I was getting water from a spring in the forest when those bandits attacked me."

"Then twas a good thing I arrived when i did." The knight bowed from atop their horse. "I bid thee a good night."

The knight galloped away, returning to the forest from whence they came. Leaving the woman in a state of confusion.

"Just who was that knight?"

* * *

Inside a lone stable not far from the forest spring, the knight removed their armor. Starting with the helmet, long golden yellow hair cascaded down the back of the knight's breastplate. Removing the breastplate, the knight was revealed themselves to be a beautiful young woman with horses ears stick out from the side of her head. For you see, the knight in shining armor was in reality, a centaur. One of the few left of her kind.

Her arms toned from years of training in the ways of a knight, she was easily able to remove the rest of her armor. Her sizable bust heaved from being freed from its metal confinements.

"Twas a good day."

She placed the armor along with her sword in the corner of the stable and stepped around the hay she used as bedding for a moment before setting down.

"I wonder what the morn shall bring."

She closed her eyes, her mind filled with thoughts of what further adventures may await.

* * *

 **FINALLY A NEW CHAPTER! Sorry for the long wait. This one has been in the pipe for a while, but I was stumped for months on how to finish it out. Ultimately I think I did a good job, but I will let you be the judge of that.**

 **The Lizardwoman and the Oni talking to the Wyvern are known as Liz and Kinu respectively. They're characters that work with Smith in MonMusu and they'll more than likely show up later in the story, they won't join Natsu though.**

 **I remember someone asking or maybe leaving a review asking if I was going to be adding characters from 12 Beast (Okayado's other monster girl manga) into the story and the answer is...maybe. I'm not that far into that series so I don't have a firm grasp on the personalities of those girls. That being said if I do integrate some of them I don't want to use the ones that are the same species as the MonMusu girls (for example one of the main girls, Aero, is a Harpy. Since I already have Papi I don't need Aero. The rest are fair game though).**

 **Next time we get a look at the stalwart centaur knight, Centorea Shianus and Erza comes back! (Hopefully this one won't take me as long).**

 **As always leave a comment/review letting me know what you think. Thanks for reading! :)**


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